Friday, Nov. 19, 2010
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Have a safe day!

Friday, Nov. 19
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO JOINT EXPERIMENTAL-THEORETICAL PHYSICS SEMINAR THIS WEEK

Monday, Nov. 22
THERE WILL BE NO PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS SEMINAR THIS WEEK
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II
Special Topics: COUPP-2L Chamber at SNOLAB

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a weekly calendar with links to additional information.

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Weather Breezy
54°/29°

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Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

Wilson Hall Cafe

Friday, Nov. 19

- Breakfast: Chorizo burrito
- *Chunky vegetable soup w/ orzo
- Buffalo chicken wings
- Cajun breaded catfish
- *Teriyaki pork stir-fry
- Honey mustard ham & swiss panini
- Assorted sliced pizza
- *Carved turkey

*carb restricted alternative

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, Nov. 24
Lunch

- Cheese fondue
- Marinated vegetable salad
- Fruit tart

Thursday, Nov. 25
Dinner

- Closed

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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From WDRS

VSO update

Kay Van Vreede

It has been a little over a week since Director Pier Oddone announced the Voluntary Separation Offer. This topic has generated much interest. Questions have been pouring in and we've done our best to answer them in a timely manner. Those questions and answers that have a broader interest we have posted on the VSO website. Hopefully, this site has helped you find out more information about the VSO and what it means for the laboratory.  

In response to inquiries by a few employees, we've also added a counter with the number of people who have applied to take the VSO to the website. We will update it when we get additional applications.

To date, we've received 12 applications. As Pier mentioned in his all-hands meeting, reducing the number of staff through a voluntary separation places the laboratory in a more resilient configuration. This is true even if fewer than 50 people accept the VSO.

We still have a little more than a week until the application deadline on Nov. 29. Please contact us through the VSO website if you have additional questions.
In Brief

New Q&A posted on VSO page

If you have a question about the Voluntary Separation Offer announced on Nov. 11, please check the VSO Q&A page to see if an answer to that question has already been posted. You can submit questions about the VSO through the website. Some of the most recent questions and answers are below.

Q. How many lab employees have been offered the VSO and what was the breakdown between Divisions/Sections?

A. Approximately 600 employees were offered the VSO and approximately 85% went to employees in the Divisions.

Q. If an employee did not receive a VSO packet, can they volunteer to take the VSO?

A. No, an employee cannot volunteer for the VSO.

Q. If you received the VSO invitation e-mail and decide not to take it, will you be "forced out?"

A. No, there are no plans right now to have an involuntary layoff. Participation in the VSO is entirely voluntary.

See more questions and answers.

Photo of the Day

Horse farm tree

photo of the day
This photo was taken after sunrise Nov. 17 in a pasture at the horse farm. A cold front passed through causing ground fog. Credit: Mike McGee
Special Announcement

Help track greenhouse gas emissions - take a survey

Fermilab wants to learn more about employees' commuting practices. By taking a commuting and travel survey, you can help the ES&H Section better estimate the greenhouse gas emissions from employees commuting to work or travelling on business.

Today is the final day to take the survey.

This survey applies to employees only (those whose badges have the letter N after their ID number). To learn more about the survey read the article in Fermilab Today.

Take the survey

Correction

Missing colon creates confusion

The COUPP proposal listed in the PAC article in Thursday's Fermilab Today. was missing a colon, a key grammatical error that made it read as if the proposed COUPP project would have a mass of 500 tons. The mass of the proposed device is 500 kg. The correct phrasing should have been: "COUPP-500: A Ton-Scale Detector Experiment. Fermilab Today regrets the miscommunication.

In the News

570-megapixel camera prepares to hunt for dark energy

From Wired, Nov. 18, 2010

The world’s largest dark energy–hunting device, also one of the biggest, heaviest and highest-resolution cameras in the world, is close to completion.

Construction of the 4-ton Dark Energy Camera is wrapping up next month at Fermilab in Illinois, where it’s being tested on a mock-up telescope mount (above). The Dark Energy Survey hopes to open its $35 million camera for business at its final destination, in the Blanco telescope atop a Chilean mountain, by October 2012.

There, it will scan deep space for signs of dark energy, an invisible force that's pulling galaxies — and perhaps space itself — apart at faster and faster speeds.

“We’re going to survey 300 million galaxies in the southern sky to measure the speed of those galaxies,” said Tom Diehl, a physicist at Fermilab and a camera-construction leader. “We want to make the best description of the universe’s expansion to date.”

Read more (and check out the photo gallery)

Special Announcement

Computing services outage update

At approximately 3 p.m. yesterday a breaker failed and caused a power outage at the Feynman Computing Center. This led to a site wide outage of computing services.

This incident was unexpected and was not related to maintenance efforts that took place early Thursday morning.

Computing Division and Facilities Engineering Services Section personnel worked overnight to replace the breaker. Power was restored by 6 a.m. this morning. Network and central web services, including e-mail, have been restored. Other services will come back online throughout the day. Computing Division Personnel expect to have services to the entire laboratory, including experiments, back online by 2 p.m. today.

If you have any questions, please contact the Service Desk at x2345 or visit the Service Desk website.

Wellness Feature of the Month

December classes, wellness events and club information

This month, the Benefits/Wellness Department will sponsor the following fitness class:

  • Kyuki-Do: 5-6 p.m. free trial class on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at the Recreation Facility gym.


This month, the Benefits/Wellness Department will also sponsor the following free wellness offerings:

  • Lunch & Learn: Is your iPod affecting Your Hearing? Noon – 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8, in Curia II. Do you exercise listening to your iPod? Have you been having difficulty hearing lately? Are you around loud noises at work or at home? Bring your iPod to test for safe listening levels.
  • 10-minute holiday wellness massages from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 15, in the Users Center Music Room and on Thursday, Dec. 16, in WH, EOC Ground Floor Training Room. Call Jeanne at x2548 to schedule your 10-minute massage.
  • Qigong, Mindfulness & Tai Chi Easy® for Stress Reduction classes:  7 – 8 a.m. on Wednesdays in Ramsey Auditorium; 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. on Thursdays in Users Center Music Room and noon – 12:45 p.m. on Fridays in Ramsey Auditorium.

Employee clubs: 

  • Toastmasters: Noon – 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, in the Wilson Hall 7th Floor Racetrack.

  • Scrappers: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, in the Wilson Hall Aquarium conference room. Scrapbookers bring your scissors, adhesive and journaling pen. Supplies provided for themed and generic layouts. $10/person.

  • Card Stampers: 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, in the Wilson Hall Aquarium conference room. Interested stampers should bring scissors, adhesive and journaling pen. Supplies provided for three cards. $10/person.

Employee discounts:

  • Movie tickets: AMC and Regal Theaters, $7-8. Goodrich Theaters, $7.
Announcements

WDRS announcement

New Q&A posted on VSO website

Latest Announcements

Visa office closed Nov. 23-26

PayFlex PowerPoint presentation

Standard Model benchmarks workshop today and Saturday

Timecards due early for Week of Nov. 15 - 21

Russian club talk today

Fermilab Today holiday schedule

Fermilab Arts and Lecture Series box office winter schedule

Arts & Lecture Series closed Nov. 25-26

TIAA CREF representatives at Fermilab - Nov. 22

Users Office holiday hours

Barn dance - Nov. 21

School's Out day camp - Nov. 22-23

Help Fermilab track greenhouse gas emissions - take a survey

Fermilab Winter Volleyball League

Turkey Date for Thanksgiving dinner

Free CERN LHC book

Tango at Fermilab through Dec. 1

Nov. 22 deadline for The University of Chicago Tuition Remission program

Pedestrian Safety Awareness for Families

Pedestrian Safety at Crosswalks

Accelerate to a Healthy Lifestyle program through Dec. 31

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